Armenia’s wind energy potential is 10,000 megawatt

Speaking to reporters today, Hayk Khachatryan, deputy head of Clean Energy public organization, said a study has revealed that the total wind energy potential of the country is 10,000 megawatt,  which is ten times the capacity of Armenian nuclear  power plant.

He said maximum efficiency can be achieved if wind power stations are built in the mountainous regions, but admitted that their construction is difficult enough. Now Armenia has only one wind farm located at Pushkin Pass in Lori region.

According to an expert in renewable energy, Hayk Shekyan, building a wind farm would cost about $1.5 per one megawatt, given that it is furnished with imported European equipment, which is quite expensive for Armenia. He said if old turbines are imported from Western European countries and placed on local wind power plants, the cost will drop several times to $300,000-400,000.

However, according to Hayk Khachatryan, large wind farms can cause quite serious damage to the environment because they generate infrasound in the range of up to 2 Hz, which can have disastrous consequences. This is why large wind turbines in the U.S. are built on several thousand hectares, which is impossible in Armenia.